The Marcus Garvey Armory opened in 1894 in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood and is currently vacant. It includes a 103,000 square foot administration building, and a 75,000 SF drill hall with 85 foot ceiling heights and mezzanine. Medgar Evers College, the local State Assembly Member, and advisory council engaged a consulting team to conduct a feasibility study for the adaptive reuse of the property, with the objective of reestablishing the Armory as a community focal point. Goals for the redeveloped facility include accessibility, serving long-term and newer residents, supporting the neighborhood through helpful services and amenities, building wealth within the community, and celebrating Bed-Stuy’s culture and history.
In the engagement’s first phase, the team collaborated with the local advisory council and community to identify preferred space uses through community meetings, events, and online surveys. The preferred uses were then combined into different redevelopment alternatives based on central themes (health and wellness, arts and performance, food-centric activities, etc.), with high-level stacking plans developed that assigned uses to particular spaces within the armory based on assumed space preferences for these user types. A second round of community meetings presented these redevelopment alternatives, and additional feedback was received that helped refine the different usage scenarios.
In addition to supporting community outreach efforts, RESGroup conducted market research on potential uses identified in the refined redevelopment scenarios, including charter schools, athletic teams and organizations, performance venues, museums, business incubation and innovation hubs, hydroponic farming operations, and more. These interviews provided valuable insights into key factors such as demand trends; location, building, and space requirements; typical improvement costs and funding sources; rent and expense levels; and important adjacencies and synergies.
Based on this research, RESGroup will assist the advisory council and assembly member in selecting the final mix of uses for the redevelopment plan, and then prepare a development proforma to evaluate the financial feasibility of the preferred redevelopment scenario(s).